Making art is a journey says Aisha Abid Hussain

Artist Aisha Abid Hussain's recent exhibition titled Embodiment of the Sublime has a fresh perspective to art. Using mixed media, this artist has tried to convey a lot on with the help of her work. Aisha, based in Lahore, holds a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London, 2012 and a Bachelor Degree from National College of Arts, Lahore Pakistan in 2008.She is recipient of various scholarships and awards including Hajji Sharif Award in Miniature Painting from National College of Arts and New Contemporaries from ICA, London. She has exhibited widely in solo and group shows in galleries and museums in USA, England, France, Italy, Austria, India and Pakistan. She is currently an Assistant Professor (Adjunct) at MA, National College of Arts and Visiting Faculty at MA ADS and MA AE at Beacon house National University, Lahore. The exhibition at The Loft, Lower Parel, titled ‘Embodiment of the Sublime’, of mixed media works will be on till Feb 29, 10am – 6pm. Excerpts from the interview...
Why have you named your exhibition 'Embodiment of the Sublime'? What do you wish to convey?
I am trying to actually convey everything to only convey it’s kind of work to the viewer or ordinance to reflect on the work and to be able to read between the lines because the tile in a way can be a like a peep hole for the ordinance to look through. But it should not give away everything, when I was planning this show an imaging the title and was thing about it 'Embodiment of the Sublime' came to my mind in a way the word sublime is really important as a metaphor to me and as a phenomenon and I feel it has a very deep connect with my practice and my work so that’s how the title came about. But I don’t think it’s the only factor in the work it’s just one layer. And it reflects sensibility and the sensitivity I work with.
How was the journey working at these pieces?
When it comes to making art, it’s a journey throughout. But working with these pieces has been very special to me personally because of lot of personal things I was going through in my own life. At the same time how I was reflecting on things as an artist. So it came together. In my practice its has always being like the personal becomes political and i believe in that as well. That personal is very political. So somehow I feel that it was an important time in life and in many regards. And working with this body of work is someone I am again reconnecting with my love for labour. And I have always being trying to preach photography and miniature practice, somehow for myself because I am equally interested in both and though there is not really a direct link in these works but somehow I believe that these are research based practice. So the research of these works comes from old photographs, letters and personal archives. That is something else I am very interested in working with mode of archive. So somehow these works in a way once again became a turning point in the practice, this is a very important body of works to me.
Tell us about your recent works..
This is one of the most recent works I have done and the most recent ones are in 3d wasli. I am somehow coming back to this metaphor in my practice in a way. I am trying to reconnect with this metaphor because I found this metaphor earlier in my work I felt that I didn’t explore it that much at that point probably it was not really the right time or whatever. Or my interest in my practice were taking me somewhere else but reconnecting with this idea of 3d wasli or raised wasli’s and which almost become bricks, books and little graves as well somebody once commented and I hold this comment quite near to my heart that they look like little graves and graves of God knows what like desires of emotions and relationships of personal demons and wishes and what not. So it’s a never ending list so what becomes interesting is like there is a room for interpretation that many many layers are in these works, they are not one liners so that’s what I enjoy the most about the 3d wasli I am reconnecting with this metaphor actually. It’s quite interesting for me in a way it’s exploring once again from the scratch and taking it somewhere else not really where I left it but actually taking forward. So that I feel that theses most recent works are very important.